ICC Note:
Despite the passage of two years, there is still no justice for the Christian couple that was accused of blasphemy and murdered at a brick kiln in November 2014. Last Friday marked the second anniversary of the murders that shocked both Pakistan and the world. After the couple had been accused of desecrating a Quran, a mob of enraged Muslims gathered at the brick kiln where they worked, beat them, and burned them alive in the brick kiln. Horrified by the incident, Pakistani authorities arrested over 100, but has yet to convict anyone.
11/09/2016 Pakistan (Christian Post) – Even though last Friday marked the second anniversary of the day that a blasphemy-accused married Pakistani Christian couple was burned alive in a brick kiln by a mob of hundreds of Muslims, no justice has yet been served for those responsible for the senseless lynching.
Shahzad Masih, 26, and his 24-year-old, five months-pregnant wife, Shama Bibi, who were from the village of Kot Radhakishan in the Punjab province, were accused by local Muslims of ripping pages out of a Quran. As desecrating a Quran in the Muslim-dominated country is an offense punishable by death, hundreds of enraged Muslims gathered in mob fashion on Nov. 4, 2014, to take the law into their own hands and lethally punish the Christian couple.
Although the couple tried to hide from the mob, they were eventually beaten ruthlessly and burned alive inside the brick kiln that they worked at, leaving their three young children, Suleman, Sonia and Poonam without their parents.
Although the government rewarded Shama and Shahzad’s surviving children a payout of over 5 million rupees ($47,785), the kids have yet to receive the money since they will have wait until they turn 18.
As Shama and Shahzad’s case has now been ongoing for two years, BPCA officer Mehwish Bhatti told The Christian Post on Tuesday that as many as 106 people believed to be part of the Muslim mob have been arrested but have not yet been convicted.
While most of those who were arrested have been in the custody of police for about two years now, Bhatti explained that only three suspects have been given bail. Unfortunately, one of the suspects who was given bail is the man that advocates for the family believe to be the person behind the false blasphemy allegations, Yousaf Gujjar.
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